The Last Night
by Bella Mattina
Summary: Rod and Rachel are best friends and they tell each other everything. Well, almost everything... Rachel has hid a big secret and Rod happened to stumble upon it. This one-shot story is inspired by "The Last Night" by Skillet and is rated M for the topic of self harm. Please do not hate this fanfic but use it as an encouragement to help others. Just know that, you are never alone.


**Author's Note: As I have mentioned in the summary, this is a one shot inspired by the song "The Last Night" by Skillet, and this story about the heavy topic of self harm. As I have also mentioned in the summary, please do not hate this story, but let it encourage you to give support or help others with this condition. Again, this is just a fanfic so please do not hate or write anything hateful about this fanfic. Thank you for listening and thank you for taking the time to read.**

_The Last Night_

Rachel woke up early that morning before the sun even rose and started her day. She was a farmer in Echo Village and had many cows, chickens, and sheep to feed. She also gardened various crops and gave her goods to the various villagers. Rachel was a friend to everyone and she loved everything. She was a slim young woman with long strawberry colored hair. She had beautiful big green eyes and gorgeous freckles along her face. Her skin was pale and every guy swoon over her beauty. Some of the girls in the village even envied her, but they never did hate her. Rachel had everything going for her, a wonderful life, an amazing home, and a job that she loved. She had a best friend who loved her dearly, Rod.

Rod was a pet shop owner and was Rachel's second half. They were friends since they were children and they were literally hip to hip. Rod had even tried asking her to be his girlfriend, but something held Rachel back from commitment. He was an outgoing man with wild orange hair and he always had some sort of cat or dog at his heel. He, like Rachel, was friends with everyone and like every guy, was mesmerized by her beauty. Rod felt that sometimes he was never good enough for Rachel and ever since she rejected him, he was afraid to be rejected again. Rod visited Rachel every morning and helped her out with her morning chores.

"Good morning Rachel!" Rod stopped watering the flowers to wave at his best friend.

Rachel was dressed in a red checkered shirt with casual jean shorts. Rod absolutely loved this outfit on her and always thought that she looked phenomenal in it, but Rachel never agreed with him on any compliment that he gave her.

"Good morning!" She skipped over to Rod and planted a friendly kiss on his cheek, "How are my tulips doing?"

"Wonderful!" He blushed at her gesture and rubbed the back of his head with an embarrassed smile, "They look like they're ready to be picked soon."

"Perfect!" Rachel clapped her hands together, "I'm going to feed my barn animals, is that okay with you?"

Rod's heart skipped a beat and answered, "You don't have to ask for my permission Rachel, you know that."

"I know!" She gave an adorable, cutesy smile that made Rod's heart thump harder and bounced off towards the barn.

Rod just laughed lightly and shook his head, "Why is she so cute?"

Meanwhile, Rachel brushed her animals and milked the cows. She threw some fodder in the troughs and glanced over at some gardening shears. Rachel had an undesirable feeling growing in the pit of her stomach that she simply could not ignore. The demons that she tried to shut out came back into her mind and taunted her. They told her that everyone hated her and that she was fat an ugly, just like the bullies did when she was younger. The demons told her that she needed to die and rot in hell. A tear slid against her cheek as she took everything in and slumped over towards the shearers. She disinfect the shearers with alcohol that she had available in every room on her property and rolled up her red checkered shirt sleeve.

Rachel cried at the sight of every scar that she inflicted onto herself and she cried when she pressed the blade onto her skin. The shearer pierced her skin and blood trickled down the inside of her arm. After seven years of self infliction, she could not feel the pain anymore. Everything was numb to her. Rachel recalled the last night when she placed a burning candle against her left arm. She thought that she would feel something and forget about those demons, but they returned to her later that evening and told her to cause more pain or they would continue to taunt her. Rachel had cut halfway down her arm before she realized that there was a lot of blood on the hay beneath her. She snapped out of the moment and immediately regretted what she had done to herself. Rachel threw the shearers in a bucket of water that was in the corner of her barn and washed off her wound with that same water. She then poured disinfectant alcohol all over her arm and screamed as soon as it touched her skin. She finally felt the pain that would satisfy the demons for the time being.

"Rachel!" Rod rushed in, "What happened?" He saw her newly wounded arm and panicked, "Oh my god, are you alright?!"

"Yeah!" Rachel said a little too quickly and rushed over to the first aid kit that she kept on a shelf in her barn, "I just poured a little too much disinfectant on my arm! That's all!" She laughed nervously and swiftly bandaged up her wound tightly, "Everything's fine! Really!"

Rod quickly walked over to her to get a better glance at her wound, but Rachel hid her arm from him and snapped, "Rod! I'm fine!"

"You should really see Dr. Klaus about that." Rod worried.

"Really," Rachel finished bandaging the wound, gave Rod her best smile, and placed the first aid kit back on the shelf, "I'm sorry to worry you, Rod. I'm just so clumsy these days."

"Is something bothering you?" Rod interrogated her, "Do you want to tell me about it? You know you can tell me anything, Rachel. I'm always here for you."

Rachel unrolled her sleeve and gave Rod a big hug and another kiss on the cheek, "I know Rod, thanks." She was shorter than Rod and always had to stand on her tiptoes when she kissed his cheek. Rod loved it when she did him like that though, it made him feel like there might actually be a chance for them.

"Alright," Rod smiled and squeezed her hand slightly, "Since we're finished the chores, would you like to go out for breakfast with me?"

"Oh..." Rachel frowned and tucked a loose strand of her strawberry hair behind her ear, "I can't... I promised Hana I would help her out in the General Store today." She lied right through her teeth.

"Oh," Rod disappointed, "That's okay. I'll see you later then. We're still having dinner tonight at six, right?"

"Yup!" Rachel jumped in excitement, "I can't wait for you to teach me how to make lasagna!"

"And I can't wait to teach you," Rod hugged her and said good-bye, "I'll see you later, Rachel." He left the barn and went on his way.

Rachel's frown returned and she felt like the world was crashing down on her. She hated lying, especially to Rod, but she could not tell him. He would think that she was a freak, like those childhood bullies did at recess. Rachel and Rod attended two separate grade schools and she was always picked one by three male students. They would call her a freak, a slut, a whore; they would tell her how ugly and skanky she was; and after school, when Rachel walked home from school, the boys would follow her home and throws rocks at her and sometimes they would flip her skirt up and touch her in places that she did not want to recall. Rachel felt tears stream down her face as she comforted herself by rubbing hands up and down her arms.

"Jump on in..." She sniffed, "Jump on out..." She slid her feet against the barn hay and walked back towards her house, "Jump on into sauerkraut..." When Rachel entered her house she closed the door gently behind her and continued her comforting nursery saying that her grandmother taught her, "have a peach..." Rachel cried harder, "Have a plum..." she made her way to the bathroom and opened the door. Rachel shut the door and opened the white medicine cabinet. There was an assortment of sleeping pills, razors, various sizes of gauze pads, and a bottle of drugs that she could take when she was ready to end her life. Today was not that day though. Rachel grabbed a razor and shut the cabinet door. She starred into the mirror and finished the rhyme with a sob, "Have a piece of chewing gum..." She took that rather sharp razor and sliced herself twenty-seven times on each arm. Once her job was done, she cleaned up the blood and the razor, and then walked to her bedroom and slept until Rod had come later that evening.

Rod entered Rachel's bedroom and saw her sleeping peacefully. He did not want to wake her up, so he walked back out into the kitchen and cooked silently. Rod hummed a tune to himself and smiled on how happy Rachel would be to eat a good home cooked meal. He hoped that there would be a future filled with more home cooked meals like the one he was making for Rachel. He did not hear Rachel wake up in her bedroom and Rachel did not hear Rod in the kitchen.

She woke up with more tears streaming down her face and she held her head in her hands and lowered it in between her legs. "Make it stop... make it stop..." Rachel whimpered softy over and over again. Those monsters had come back and wanted to haunt her some more. She gave in to the voices and walked over to her dresser. She opened the middle drawer and found a large pair of scissors. Rachel rolled up her sleeves once more and starred down at her reddened arms. The old scars and new scars frightened her, but she had to get rid of the voices. She cut herself more times than she could count and prayed that the voices would stop.

"Oh Rachel..." Rod opened the door and starred at her in shock. He saw the wounds and he saw Rachel's tears. He saw the pair of scissors in her hand and he saw how they pressed against her arms. He urged, "Rachel, please, put those down."

"I have to make them stop..." Rachel cried, "They are making me feel horrible."

"Rachel," Rod slowly and carefully inched his way towards her, "Please, tell me what they are telling you."

"They keep calling me names..." Rachel dropped the scissors and fell to the ground. She wailed, "I can't make them stop!"

Rod rushed to Rachel's side and immediately pushed the scissors across the room. He grabbed Rachel and laid her against his chest. Rod rubbed her head and held her tightly in his arms as she bawled, "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

Rod found himself tearing up as he said, "Shh... everything's okay now. I'm here, Rachel, I'm here for you." He never seen Rachel in this way before and it absolutely pained him to see what she has done to herself. He asked her, "Who was calling you names, Rachel?"

"Those boys..." Rachel shook as she cried, "They were from my grade school... I tried to forget them, but their words really hurt me, Rod."

His heart sunk and he stared outside of Rachel's window. It was a beautiful starry night. "Did..." He gulped, "they hurt you, Rachel? Did they do anything... inappropriate.. to you?" When she nodded yes, Rod felt completely crushed. The girl of his dreams, his best friend, kept that one big secret from him and he did not even know where to start helping her. "Rachel?" Rod called out for her. Rachel nodded and hiccuped. Rod continued, "Will you let me or Dr. Klaus help you?"

"Just make it stop..." Rachel begged, "Please... make it stop..."

"Rachel, look at me," Rod lifted her head and starred into her eyes. Even though she was completely red, puffed eye, and tear stained Rod thought that she was absolutely beautiful, "We can only help you if you help yourself first," He asked, "Do you think you can do that?"

Rachel nodded and sniffed, "Yeah..."

Rod gently kissed her forehead and held his lips there for a little while. He was in shock about everything, but he knew that Rachel needed help and that he needed to be strong for her. After all of that time, he finally understood why she refused him; it was because she was terrified from what happened in her past.

"Hey Rod..." she giggled and hiccuped again.

"Yeah Rachel?" Rod smiled at the light tone of her voice.

"Is the lasagna ready?" She continued to giggle and hiccup, "I always get hungry after crying."

He chuckled, "Of course." She pulled away from her forehead and cupped her cheek. He used his thumb to wipe a stray tear and he could not help but smile at Rachel. "Rachel?"

"Yeah?" She responded.

"Have I ever told you how beautiful you look, especially right now?" Rod felt the honesty in his statement and he hoped that she would too.

Rachel looked down and Rod saw her blush. She tucked the same stray strand of hair from earlier behind her ear once again. Rod felt his blood rush through his body and he immediately regretted his stupid words as soon as they left his mouth, "Can I kiss you?"

Rachel's blush deepened and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Her lips lifted and hesitantly touched his lips. She pulled back as soon as their lips fully touched, but then she slowly went back in for another kiss. Rod knew Rachel's fragile condition and knew that it would be a bad idea if he let his wild testosterone thoughts take over, so he did not let the kiss last any longer than three seconds and pulled away. He pushed himself off of the ground and assisted Rachel to her feet, "Ready to eat?"

Rachel nodded at Rod and smiled, "Thank you Rod for everything."

Even though her condition was fragile, he knew that his next few words would make her smile even more, "Rachel, you are my best friend and I will always love you. I promise you that this will be your last night ever feeling like this. You will never be alone and suffer anymore." Rod hugged her tightly, "I will always be there for you Rachel, no matter what, and I promise you that this will be your last night ever feeling like this."

Rachel hugged Rod tightly back and the world lifted off of her shoulders. She felt light and feathery as if she was floating on air. The thoughts were still their and screamed violently at her, but Rachel now knew, that she did not have to bottle them up inside any more. Rod was there for her, and he could take care of her. "Rod," she pecked a kiss on his lips, "Thank you."

After that night, Rachel began therapy. She would talk to Dr. Klaus about her troubling past and at every therapy session, Rod would always show up. She cleaned out her house of any sharp object, disinfectant alcohol, or any unknown drug. Her road was not perfect, and she did have a few relapses in depression, but after that night she never cut herself again. To this day she has not cut herself again, and Rod and Rachel are happily married with two children and a puppy of their own. Rachel tells her story to others to let them know that they are never alone and they too will have their own last night.

**Author's Note: Thank you for allowing me to share this story with all of you. Natsume Inc. owns the Harvest Moon characters. I pray for anyone who is suffering from their own demons and I pray that you may all to experience that last night. You will get through the suffering and the pain and you do have people who care for you and will help you along the way. God bless everyone and please know that you are never alone. There is always someone out there, waiting for you, to hold on to you and tell you that they love you. They will always be there for you.**


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